Lorry nearly loses its roof after colliding with bridge

Neill Cobain

A lorry that nearly lost its roof after hitting a bridge in Banbridge, drove all the way to Portadown after the collision.

It’s understood the vehicle involved in the incident was a prison van.

Local police have warned drivers of larger vehicles to be aware of their lorry’s dimensions in light of the collision.

The incident occurred at The Cut in Banbridge on Sunday, November 27.

The vehicle nearly lost its roof, but the driver drove on to Portadown not realising the extent of the damage.

PSNI Banbridge posted: “This vehicle found out the clearance height of The Cut in Banbridge yesterday. It then drove on to Portadown, not realising the damage done. Not the smartest move.

“First up, if you’re driving a vehicle you’re not used to, make sure you know it’s dimensions. Van and lorry drivers in particular, know the height of your vehicle and always check the marked clearance height of bridges before passing under them for the first time.

“Secondly, if you’re driving a larger vehicle, especially one with a cab where you maybe wouldn’t feel a smaller impact, if you have even a suspicion you’ve hit something - pull over. Check it out, and where necessary, contact ourselves.

“If it happens to be a railway bridge you hit, you must immediately use the phone beside the bridge to contact NIR. There’s no way of telling what structural damage could be caused by a bridge strike, and those trains aren’t light.

“Remember, only the fire service are qualified to do make your motor a convertible by the road side, but you really don’t want that to happen.”

The following night (Monday) another high-sided vehicle struck the 19th century stone bridge in the town centre.

This time the articulated lorry got stuck under the bridge and the road had to be closed to traffic.